Amazon Kindle Hints and Tips

I disagree with the notion that it is foolish to not incorporate a lighting solution when they have the ability to do so at this point. Companies do this all the time, they wait until the market is saturated for their product as is, and then start offering products with more features to continue the revenue stream (since those who have the current versions of the products will re-invest to get the new features) as well as increase their revenues (since those who were not purchasing said products because of missing features will now invest in the product that has said features). It is a typical growth strategy.

This strategy runs along the same lines as the old designed or necessary extinction strategy which ALL the US car makers were using in the late 70's and early 80's when they were making cars that would terd out at around 36k to 50k miles. That only changed due to the imports which were lasting longer and hade waaaaay better mileage. (Holy crap, did I just combine two rival measuring systems?) =O New term "kilo-mile" lol

I would tend to think that there is currently not enough market for a custom fit E-ink reader light that would create enough profitability over the cost of a new manufacturing infrastructure to create the varied customization.

"BTW, the whole everyone is doing it so such and such must be true. That is an invalid argument of consensus."

Actually it was more like "everyone is doing it, so there must be a reason" was more what I meant. Now whether that reason was cost, inability, or market study on how many people would want one remains to be determined. Since none of the companies have officially explained why, I am open to any possibility. Looking at it from a business perspective, if it were technologically or economically feasible, a company like Sony would have been foolish not to have a side lighting setup like you mentioned, on their current third gen device, especially when they knew Amazon was going to be huge competition. An illuminated reader would have been a deal maker for many people.

I'm wondering why an enterprising third party company hasn't designed a snap on bezel or something, other than a snap on extension lamp, for any of the readers currently on the market.

Julie,

Check out Amazon's mp3 download service. Non-DRM'ed music. :) I try to buy from there as much as possible so I can listen to the songs on both my WM device and my iPod Touch. Although, my iPod Touch is a such a better music device I have been using that exclusively as my everyday music player.

Sure, but the DRM music is purchased through iTunes, or if purchased elsewhere, you have to go through some gyrations to get it so it will play on an IPOD....at least that's what I've read about it. I don't really buy music since I have a pretty extensive CD collection and my pocket pc suits me just fine for music. But books are a whole 'nother story

"I don't want to be locked into any vendor like that (one reason why I don't have an ipod)."

Um....you do know that iPods to play MP3's? You can purchase songs from other than iTunes (Amazon is a good example with their DRM-less MP3 service). Many other commerical music offerings are DRM'ed in one way or another. I have a ton of mp3's on my iPod Touch.

However, in the case of the Kindle, I do agree with your sentiment.

The lighting discussion is interesting but the reason I would not buy the Kindle is because I don't want to be limited to buying books only from Amazon. I don't want to be locked into any vendor like that (one reason why I don't have an ipod).

"The current e-ink technology allows 0% light through the back. The e-ink balls are suspended in a liquid above circuitry on a plastic sheet of a solid color, silver or grey I believe."

I do not doubt the possibility of the back silver or grey coating having 0% transmittance, as this type of medium does exist and I have worked with it before. However, that medium is usually expensive and it is completely unnecessary for the success of the E-Ink effect. I find it more likely that there is a % of transmittance and that without a spectrum or the specific characteristics of the film backing (e.g. name of substance, thickness and index of refraction) I would not buy into the notion that it is actually 0% transmittance through that medium. In addition, even if it was, you could then use the reflectivity of that surface to evenly distribute a glowing diffused light of an appropriate frequency. Again, due to the incredible contrast ratio, the amount of light needed is not great for low light conditions. Really, having all the specs for the system will lend itself to a simple resolution in most cases. This notion of physically constrained man made systems is ludicrous and only serves as a marketing tool which contributes to the dumbing down of the masses. Not kosh.

"It could be that, as you said, it would drain even more power, or add even more bulk."

Firstly, the battery thing was a joke as I said earlier. I do not actually believe that the battery life is the issue. The reason all these companies are not doing it yet could, and probably is as far as I am concerned, be for creating an upgrade path. Let's face it, the sucess of the book lighting industry is soley due to the demand for people wanting to read in low light conditions. That demand exists, so why bother saturating your market on the get go when you can ride the wave in gently and rake in the extra bucks for menial upgrades.

I do not buy into the whole "this is all we can do for now" attitude or concept. I have been educated enough to know better.

It is true that there also exists a market for people who rarely read in low light conditions. I do not disagree with that notion. So it makes more sense to say that for folks who don't have a need to read in low light conditions, this is a solution. For those who do have a need to read in low light conditions, you will have to search elsewhere for now. That is much different than suggesting that there is some mythical physical boundary that has been reached to which there is no current solution. (We are so far from that point it is not even funny.)

I say "No limitation without validatable explanation".

BTW, the whole everyone is doing it so such and such must be true. That is an invalid argument of consensus.

"In addition, Pitcher, re-examining the backlighting capability, do you have a spectrum showing the % of transmittance for all the frequencies of light in the visible band through the E-ink medium? Even only a 25% transmittance for any frequency would be enough for evenly distributed and more than adequate backlighting due to the high contrast ratio."

The current e-ink technology allows 0% light through the back. The e-ink balls are suspended in a liquid above circuitry on a plastic sheet of a solid color, silver or grey I believe.

As for the lightedge type tech you mentioned, maybe it's a patent issue as the link you provided showed it was a patented technology. It could be that, as you said, it would drain even more power, or add even more bulk.

Sony is on it's second gen device, Amazon spent 4 years developing it's reader, Bookeen spent a while developing its e-ink reader as have other Japanese companies, and none of them have any type of built in lighting, so there must be a reason, because for many, this would be a feature that would cause a reader to outsell all others.

Yes the Kindle is expensive. Cheaper than the Iliad, but $50 more than the PRS 500 when it first came out, but I think it, along with locking the device to Amazon sold books, may have to do with subsidizing the free EVDO whispernet.

In any event, it is personal preference really and isn't for everyone. I usually read in the daylight and when I read paper books at night I would use a clip on light. I tried reading books at night on a PDA, but after a while the light really bothered my eyes.

"Probably has nothing to do with battery life as such a feature would have an on off button."

I would tend to agree here, even though regardless of there being an on-off button the light being on will drain the battery more than when it is not on, that is a given. The statement you quoted was meant as a joke not a literal analysis.

"Try it out yourself and put a light on a paper books edge and not above and you will see what I mean."

Fortunately for us, we live in the year 2007 going on 2008 where lighting technology has transcended the jurasic capabilities of putting a light on a books edge. The light distribution is highly dependent on the medium used to distribute the light matching up with the frequency of the light used as well as the index of refraction of the medium and the waveguide properties to name a few variables which can be easily tweaked to provide a satisfactory distribution. I don't see it being any worse than the distribution and non-uniformity of using a clip on book light that's for sure. Here is a more modern example of what I am talking about for bezel light. (This has been around for over 5 years now):

http://www.lightwedge.com/how.html

In addition, Pitcher, re-examining the backlighting capability, do you have a spectrum showing the % of transmittance for all the frequencies of light in the visible band through the E-ink medium? Even only a 25% transmittance for any frequency would be enough for evenly distributed and more than adequate backlighting due to the high contrast ratio.

Give me a break, for $400 bucks in this day and age they could light the freakin' thing. I am not buying the lame excuses nor this reader for that price point.

"Let me guess....battery life. lol"

Probably has nothing to do with battery life as such a feature would have an on off button. No e-ink book has yet to use above screen side lighting, because they haven't found a way to light the entire screen uniformly. It would be brighter at the bezel and darker toward the middle, which would make for a lousy reading experience.

Try it out yourself and put a light on a paper books edge and not above and you will see what I mean.

I got a kick out of this review....

http://scobleizer.com/2007/11/25/dear-jeff-bezos-one-week-kindle-review/

Ok, no backlight, and the reason for no lighting solution whatsoever? (Like say bezel LEDs either flush or just above display panel.)

Let me guess....battery life. lol

I'm considering the Kindle. So I looked at my first year costs. I selected four daily papers, which works out to $36/month. Conservatively supposed that I'd download six books a month, at approximately $60. That works out to nearly **$2000** (including Kindle costs).

If you're not reading that volume, why buy it?

I think people who complain about the $400 cost are missing the context. Amazon could, indeed, have given the device away, and marginally bumped up book prices. But that would have attracted people who won't spend enough on books.

But if you are such a person, realize the $400 cost is pretty minor against what you'll be spending going forward.

What would have made *me* much happier was a device that enabled me to read everything I can already read on the web, but on an eInk device. Can the Kindle do this? Some say it can, through its browser. But why then the whole "blog subscription" concept? Something like a newspaper, OK, there may be navigational advantages if there is dedicated Kindle content with embedded menus, etc. But blogs?

I just want a device that enables me to read more easily than my CRT. The bulk of what I consume on the web is text. I want a reliable web text reader on eInk.

Pitcher you are very educated! You are 100% correct. Phys it is useless to have it backlit. I have to say the Kindle has been the most enjoyable mobile tech I purchased this year!

Expense has nothing to do with it. E-ink is opaque by design. Putting a back light in would be as useful as shining a flashlight behind a piece of paper to read a regular book.

JN-

I was under the impression that the books are in mobi format, but has DRM locked to the Kindle. The net effect is the same, but one day someone will crack the code to make the books readable on other mobi capable readers.

I am with JN on that one. Purchase a separate clip on light???? C'mon, is it that expensive to put in a freakin' backlight?

Price point still way too high for what it does. Knock this type of device to 99 bucks and make it universally compatible with all ebooks (or at least several large vendors) and then you'll have something.

Jerry there are numerous ways of converting the files. PPCMAG of course will slant it. I find it very friendlt!!!

Fugita no it cant but neither can sony e-books :)

Supposedly a proprietary format:

http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=1&title=are_you_impressed_with_the_amazon_kindle

im wondering has anyone looked to see if kindle content can be viewed on any other device?